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If you like Holiday Tales

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If you're looking for holiday tales for the season, check these titles out.

An Angel's Touch by Heather Graham
Don and Cathy Angel have never been apart since that fateful day they met in college. Now in their thirties and pursuing demanding careers in New York City, the two have only grown more closely entwined. Until tragedy strikes. When a hurtling train strikes the couple's car on a snowy Christmas Eve, Cathy and Don find themselves looking down at their mangled gray Beamer—and their own bodies inside. Neither fully in this world or the next, they learn that in order to move on, they must perform six miracles before midnight. But with no experience in the field of divine intervention, both are convinced their mission can only end in disaster . . . But on this sparkling, silent night, these two reluctant angels will discover that there is no greater gift than the one we are all blessed to give: the gift of love. (catalog summary)

An Arizona Christmas by William W. Johnstone
Like most families, the Jensens gather together to celebrate the holidays. This year, since half the clan is scattered across the American West, they've decided to split the difference and meet up in Tucson. Matt and Luke will be there, for sure, and maybe Ace and Chance, too. That leaves Sally, Preacher, and Smoke Jensen, who've reserved three seats on a westbound stage to make sure they don't miss out on the festivities. What could possibly go wrong? (catalog summary)

The Christmas Angel Project by Melody Carlson
Five women from different walks of life have become close friends through their book club—enjoying one another's company even more than they enjoy the books. So when the leader of the book club unexpectedly passes away on the cusp of the Christmas season, the four remaining friends are stunned. They relied on Abby for inspiration and motivation. She was the glue that held them together, and they're sure that without her the group can't continue. When the group gathers "one last time" to open a bag Abby's husband gives them, they find Abby had made each of them an angel ornament for Christmas, crafted especially for each woman and accompanied by a sweet and personal note. Inspired by their beloved friend, together Cassidy, Louisa, Grace, and Belinda decide to commit themselves to becoming Christmas Angels to others in need. Each woman will use her life situation and talents to reach out and help others in her own unique way—little knowing that her own life and her relationships will be changed forever. (catalog summary)

Christmas: A Biography by Judith Flanders
Presents a tour of Christmas holiday traditions from the original festival through today, touching on subjects ranging from gift wrap and the holiday parade to the first gag holiday gift book and the first official appearance of Santa Claus. (catalog summary)

Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan
In the Cornish coastal village of Mount Polbearne, the Christmas season has arrived. It's a joyous time for family, friends, and feasting, as decorations sparkle along the town's winding streets and shop windows glow with festive displays. And in Polly's Little Beach Street Bakery, the aroma of gingerbread cookies and other treats tempts people in from the cold. Though Polly is busy keeping up with the demands of the season, she still makes time for her beekeeper boyfriend, Huckle. She's especially happy to be celebrating the holiday this year with him, and can't wait to cuddle up in front of the fireplace with a cup of eggnog on Christmas Eve. But holiday bliss soon gives way to panic when a storm cuts the village off from the mainland. Now it will take all of the villagers to work together in order to ensure everyone has a happy holiday. (catalog summary)

The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman
It all begins with a father telling a story to his son on Christmas Eve. But this isn't your typical Christmas story. The father admits to his son that he's taken a life but he won't say whose—not yet. One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl with cancer. She's a smart kid—smart enough to know that she won't beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it. As the man tells his son about this plucky little girl, he slowly reveals more about himself: while he may be a successful businessman, idolized by the media and his peers, he knows he failed as a parent. Overwhelmed by the responsibility of fatherhood, he took the easy way out and left his wife and little boy twenty years ago to pursue professional success. Now he is left wondering if it's too late to forge a relationship with his son, who seems to be his opposite in every way—prizing happiness over money, surrounded by loving friends in a cozy town where he feels right at home. (catalog summary)

Home for Christmas by Holly Chamberlin
In a charming Maine seaside town, a single mother longs to create a memorable Christmas for her two daughters—and receives a chance to make her own wishes come true. (catalog summary)

Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I by Hazel Gaynor
August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she — believes everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris. But as history tells us, it all happened so differently . . . Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of the war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father's newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene? Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him . . . (catalog summary)

Mr. Dickens and His Carol: A Novel of Christmas Past by Samantha Silva
Charles Dickens is not feeling the Christmas spirit. His newest book is an utter flop, the critics have turned against him, relatives near and far hound him for money. While his wife plans a lavish holiday party for their ever-expanding family and circle of friends, Dickens has visions of the poor house. But when his publishers try to blackmail him into writing a Christmas book to save them all from financial ruin, he refuses. And a serious bout of writer's block sets in. Frazzled and filled with self-doubt, Dickens seeks solace in his great palace of thinking, the city of London itself. On one of his long night walks, in a once-beloved square, he meets the mysterious Eleanor Lovejoy, who might be just the muse he needs. As Dickens' deadlines close in, Eleanor propels him on a Scrooge-like journey that tests everything he believes about generosity, friendship, ambition, and love. The story he writes will change Christmas forever. (catalog summary)

The Noel Diary by Richard Paul Evans
Bestselling romance author Jacob Churcher hasn't been home for almost twenty years—not since his mentally ill mother kicked him out of the house when he was just sixteen. When a lawyer calls, days before Christmas, to inform him that his estranged mother has passed away and left her house to him, Jacob returns not just to settle the estate but to try and reconcile with the past and the pain and abuse he experienced as a child. Also, maybe cleaning out her house will be slightly less depressing than spending the holidays alone, watching re-runs of Christmas classics. But as it turns out, the households more than just difficult memories, Jacob's mother had become a hoarder and he must excavate through two decades worth of clutter. As Jacob digs through the detritus, like an archaeologist, he uncovers many puzzling items including a diary left by someone named Noel, a young woman he has no recollection of, who stayed with Jacob's family during her pregnancy. That's not the only echo from the past. Jacob has an unexpected visitor, Rachel, a woman looking for the mother who put her up for adoption thirty years before. United in their quest to make sense of the past and rewrite their futures, Jacob and Rachel begin a search for Noel. Along the way, they find more than they possibly imagined, including grace, forgiveness and a chance at love. (catalog summary)

A Scandal in Battersea by Mercedes Lackey
Christmas is a very special time of year. It is special for Psychic Nan Killian and Medium Sarah Lyon-White and their ward Suki, who are determined to celebrate it properly. It is special for their friends, Doctor John Watson, and his wife Mary, both Elemental Masters, who have found great delight in the season seeing it through young Suki's eyes. It is also special to others . . . for very different reasons. For Christmas Eve is also hallowed to dark forces, powers older than mankind, powers that come awake on this, the Longest Night. Powers best left alone. Powers that could shake the foundations of London and beyond. It begins slowly. Women disappearing in the dark of night, women only missed by those of their own kind. The whispers only begin when they start to reappear—because when they do, they are no longer sane. And when Nan and Sarah and the Watsons are called on to examine these victims, they discover that it was no ordinary horror of the streets that drove them mad. But then, the shadows reach for other victims—girls of good, even exalted families, who vanish from concerts, lectures, and evening balls. And it will take the combined forces of Magic, Psychic Powers, and the worlds greatest detective to stop the darkness before it can conquer all. (catalog summary)

Seven Days of Us: A Novel by Francesca Hornak
It's Christmas, and for the first time in years, the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew's elder daughter—who is usually off saving the world--will be joining them at Weyfield Hall, their aging country estate. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. Having just returned from treating an epidemic abroad, she's been told she must stay in quarantine for a week . . . and so too should her family. For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity—and even decent Wi-FI—and forced into each other's orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while Olivia deals with the culture shock of being immersed in first-world problems. As Andrew sequesters himself in his study writing scathing restaurant reviews and remembering his glory days as a war correspondent, Emma hides a secret that will turn the whole family upside down. In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who's about to arrive. (catalog summary)

Winter Solstice: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand
It's been too long since the entire Quinn family has been able to celebrate the holidays under the same roof, but that's about to change. With Bart back safe and sound from Afghanistan, the Quinns are preparing for a holiday more joyous than any they've experienced in years. And Bart's safe return isn't the family's only good news: Kevin is enjoying married life with Isabelle; Patrick is getting back on his feet after paying his debt to society; Ava thinks she's finally found the love of her life, and Kelly is thrilled to see his family reunited at last. But it just wouldn't be a Quinn family gathering if things went smoothly. (catalog summary)